Railway rail and rail joint



May 19, 931. s. G. THOMSON l 1,806,427

RAILWAY RAIL AND RAIL JOINT Fi ed May 6, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fl g. 2.

May 19, 1931. s. G.A THOMSON Filed May 6, 1930' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 19, 1931 @PATENT ori-*ICE SAMUEL G. THOMSON, OF FLUSHING, NEW YORK RAILVJAY BAEL AND RAIL JOINT Application filed May 5, 1930.

This invention relates to a novel distribution of metal in the rail foot and in the upper portion of the rail web adjacent to its juncture with the rail head. This eiects economies in manufact-ure and in metal distribution. ltprovides also, a rail and a splice bar of better design and stability in service.

lThisn application is supplementary to my application No; 442,948, filed April 9th, 1930, and als'o'to my application No. 445,264, liled April v18th, 1930. This invention applies particularly' tot the designs of aforesaid applications which have an enlarged concave or flat face gradually extending upwardly and outwardly from the rail web to the under corner of its head. Seme of these designs are made practicable only by providing a special form of lower bearing on the rail foot such as will counteract the tendency of the bar to slide upwardly and outwardly away from the railhead under load and the clamping action of the bolts. Such a special foot bearing, lin combination with upper rail sec- Y tionsa'i'id bearings for the bar similar to some i of those shown in aforesaid applications, is

the subject matterforthis application.

mong the advantages enumerated in aforesaid applications which apply with equal force here, may be mentioned the benefits in rail manufacture as outlined in application No. 442,948. The use of gradually slantin'g faces toelimina'te the abrupt change in section at thejuncture of the rail web with its head, together with the increased stability attained for the splice bar and the larger area for its upper bearing, should be considered to be a valuable advance in the art. In addition to the advantages which are common to these several applications, some others are particularly applicable to the two-inclination top surface of the' rail foot, which best may be understood by following the description' of the various iigures of the drawings, to follow.

The pear head was a familiar shape in the early `development of the railway rail; bu'tthe downwardly and inwardly sloping sides w'eren'ot u'sedas bearings' for splice bars. These sloping sides, however, were used as bearings in some of the early types of the Serial No. 450,112.

bull head and double head rails. In the early development of the T-rail with its wide flat base,` the desire to carry the rail load through the joint by the stili'ness and strength of thesplice bars which up to that time were only used to hold the rail ends together, brought about sharp offsets in the rail section at the juncture of the rail web with the rail head and foot. The result was, that the inclination of the lishing or bearing angles was flattened out to correspond to the laterally extending foot, and in order to obtain a more nearly horizontal position 'for the upper bearingas an aid in carrying the load more directly under the rail head. A one-to-four inclination--about 14 degrees with the horizontal-was and has since been used as the prevailing practice, with the extreme cases ranging from 1l to 14 degrees for the bearing on top of the rail foot, and ll to 18 and even 20 degrees for the upper bearing under the rail head, 23 degrees being used in one design in 1874.

A further desire to widen the rail base without the use of too much metal in' the rail foot, has resulted in a further flattening out of the top surface ofthe rail foot adjacent to' its outer edge to an inclination as close to the horizontal as one-to-fifteen, a recent practice in France. This rail used in France with its top surface of the foot comprising two laccs inclined at diierent angles, has some of the characteristics of my invention; but the former art in this respect has been with the view of widening the bottom of the rail to provide a betterbearing areaon the ties; also to increase therail stiffness and to diminish its tendency to turn over or to draw the track fastenings in service. No relationship has heretofore been claimed between the double inclination of the upper surface of the rail toot and a special design of upper bearing for the bar under the rail head. The novelty of my inventionconsists in the use of oneof these differently inclined faces at an inclination greater than heretofore suggested, in order to balance or counteract an extra inclination of the upper bearing ot' the bar against the rail head under service loads and the pull of the bolts. This tofore to use load-carrying splice bars against the widely and gradually spreading sides of this type of rail. In order to accomplish this, it is obvious that a. lower bearing with an opposite inclinationis necessary, the amount `of inclination required depending upon the relative location and the conformation vof the upper bearing and particularlythe upper portionof the upper bearing when it isa curved surface. The enlarged upper bearing with its greater inclination under the rail head, which is one of the characteristics of my improvement, 'heretofore has not been practicable on.

accountl of the tendencyforil the top of the bar to slip upwardly" and away from the rail head under load and the tension of the bolts.

vInillustrating the means provided for balancing this tendency to slip, I have used in mostof the figures of the drawings inclina.- tions and curves of these bearings such as will vcause a slight tendency for the top of the'bar to move inwardly. -In thisconnec-- tion, it willA be noted by comparing the variousfigures of the drawings, that there are two basicv factors in the lower bearing of the bar. that are used to govern the tendency at the top ofthe bar to move inwardly or outwardly. r

These two factors are :the steep inclination of the bearing, and its inward or outward loca-v tion with referenceto theupperbearing. rllhe steep inclination in itself when located directly under the upper bearing is not sufficient to neutralize a slight tendency for the top of the barto'inove outwardly, as may be noted .iny three of the figures; but when the 'steeply inclined bearing is located on the outerportion of the rail foot as in the other figures, then the tendency is for the top of thefbar to move inwardly.

The graphic representation* of forces shown diagrammatically in connection Vwith the various figures. of the drawings is'only approximate for illustration of the princi- Y ples involved; andit may be understood from the'foll'owing description'in, detail of the various designs of'ra-ils and splice bars'suppla mented by the graphic representation of the lacting' forces, that in most cases only slight changes in curvature, inclination V and relationship of the upper and lower ybearings of these designs are necessary in order to af-y ford ya balanced condition in the clamping action of the bar. against the raiL The precise nature, novelty and combinations of these various features of my invention mayV best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated a-number of` the more desirable forms and combinations which my improvement may take. Itis presumed, however, that the inventio-nis susceptible of various other modificationswithout departing from its spirit and scope as-defined inthe appended claims.

Figures 1 to 8 inclusive, are sectional elevations of a rail and a splice bar showing some of the preferableV forms of my invention, the various details and combinations Y of which may best be understood from the description of each figure to follow.' f Y Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the various tigures of the drawings.

The letterH, ywhenever seen, designates the rail head; W, the rail web F, the rail foot;

B, the splice bar; C, the upper bearing of thel splice bar against the rail; D, the lower bearing of the bar against the rail; E, av portion of the upper surface of the rail f oot free of contact with the splice bar, and at an inclination different from'D; G, a concave face in the llet joining the upper surfacel of the rail foot with the rail web; linea-a through the abutments of the upper and the lower bearings of the bar against the rail indi- Cates the relative location of these two bearings; line b-b indicates -thebisector of the angle which the plane of the upper bearing makes with they plane of thev lower bearing; line f-f indicates thev component force of the bolt-pull perpendicularV to abutment line f Figure l shows airail having a shallow and y steeply inclined'uniform curved face C joining the rail web to the under corner'of the rail head. This changes the rail section grad-Y ually andcontinuously from the width or thickness of its web to the width of itshead.

Bearing'D,`on the outer Yportion lofthe rail foot, has a muchv greater inclination than another portion'E, which in turn, isjoinedto the-rail web by concave fillet-face G.

The locationof bearing D on the outer portionof the rail foot, gives considerable inclination to the line a-a. through 'the Outerl Vportions of the upper and the. lower bearings.

This abutment lineis usedto indicate the r-elativelocation or position of one bearing under the other. rlhe .outer-location of bearing D is effective in increasing the tendency ofthe topof the barto move inwardly under the vibration andfwear of track service, Vand the steep inclination of bearing D is effective.

in causing the same tendency, in that it neutralizes or .partly opposes the steep inclination. in the opposite direction atthe upper' bearing,'thus reducing the tendency of the l top of the bar to move outwardly.

ln order to indicate graphically some these relationships, diagrams are shown in connection with each figure of the drawings, all of which may` bevunderstood in the same way as described for this Figure 1, as follows:

A, line through the upper and the lower edges land 2 of bearing C indicates approximately the direction thatthe head or' the bar tends to slide in -either direction. This line happens to make about a degree angle 3, with the surface ofbearing D projected, and about a 6() degree angle 4, with surface E projected. The bisectors of these angles are respectively, linesb-Jz and ?J-bf. Components of the bolt-clamping force perpendicularto abutment liney a-a are indicated by line f-f for angle 3,` andby line f-f for angle 4. These components intersect the -bisectors of these anglesat the lrail `web which is taken asa point of convenience. As the bar is guided into the angle madeby the inclinations of its upper and lower bearings, its reaction or tendency toward rotation is indicated as acting outwardly along the line of` the bisector.

By choosing a convenient length from the pointof intersection of the bisectorwith the component of the inwardly acting force, the third side of the triangle may be drawn parallel to the abutment line rf-cz to represent the tendency oi the bar to rotate in itsbearings under wear and service conditions. When different designs andangles forl the bea-rings are compared, the relativelengths `of the third sides of the resulting triangles are approximately proportional to the magnitude of thetendencies of the bars to slip around in their bearings, and the direction of the slip is indicated by arrows. By comparingin this `way the bar shown in Fig. 1 having the `steeply inclined outer bearing D with abar not shown but having its. lower bearing` with the lesser inclination of face E, it will beAnot-ed that tl'ie two bars will be dra-wn into the angles 3 and f i respectively, with the result, as indicated by symbols and /`"-Z representing the third side of the corresponding triangles,

that angle 3 would tend to cause a rotation of,` the bar inwardly at the top to the `position shown in` the ing, by longdottecl' lines, while angle i would tend to cause rotation ofthe bar outwardly at the top` to' the position shown by shortdotted lines. These symbols also showby their comparative lengths that the tendency inward toward the long-dotted position is the greater.

Figure 2 shows a rail having a flat viace C for `the' upper bearing instead ont the shallnw curvediace shown inaFifg.` 1, the general ini clinations of tlietwo faces being, about the same. In this design, the upperA edge of the bearing of the bar, indicated by a vertical line at 0 lies considerably inside of a vertical pl-'aneat the outer edge of theirail head,

drawtion ofthe'rail foot, so that abutment line aha is vertical. In order to compare this arrangement with a. similar bar having its lower bearing on a rail foot with the usual 14 degree inclination, the lower bearing D may be considered as cut away from the rail to form a rail foot as shown by. dotted line at 5. With the bearing' faces projeetedto form angles 6 and 7, it will be noted from the graphic symbols that, in both designswith and without the steep lower bearing* the tendency of the bar is to rotate outwardly at the top to the posit-ion shown in dotted lines. Symbol b-/ indicates thatthis rotating tendency is excessive with the usual fishing-angle inclination on top of the rail foot. In such an arrangement, the bar would very soon pull up against the rail web below, as indicated in dotted position of the bar. Symbol b-fshows almost a balanced condition. with the steeply sloping lower bearing D, whatever tendency there is 'for the top of the bar. to move outwardly being slight. When this condition as represented `by symbol b-f is compared to that represented by -sb in Fig. l, where the tendency at the top of the bar israther strongly inward, a very clear indication is shown ot the effect of the inner and the outer locations of the lower bearing, the inclinations at the top and bottom bearings being similar in both figures.

Figure 3 showsa rail with an extra wide head and 'with a deepl regularly curved face extending downwardly and inwardly from the under corner of thelwide head to a point of tangency 8 with the upright facev of the rail web; Thissgives agradual increase oi the enlarged` upper portion of the web without any abrupt offsets in its section. By using a very small radius for the under corner of the rail head, the upper bearing for the bar is carried well over almost `to a hori Zontal position at 9; which when combined with the deepncss of the curved face, gives a very solidly anchored bearing at the top. ThisI assists in holding the bar against its tendency to rotate in its bearings. The head bearing of the bar' is carried down around the curve to 10', which with the wide rail head affords an exceptionally wide upper bearingl area. Bearing D approaches the usual 14 degrec inclination, which is much less than the steepin-clinations shown in the former iigures.y This bearing D occupies the outer portioniof the rail' foot, which' footl is shown with unusual widthrlhe free upper surface E of the foot is convex,` and it approaches a horizontal posi-tion as it joins with fillet-face G. Symbol. feindicates that the bar has a ratherkstrong tendency to slideinwardly at the top; This is somewhat counteracted suV lef)

lic

by. lcarrying the'upperbearing of the bar down around the curvev toward the rail web.

InFigure 4, the'enlarged upper portion ofthe rail vweb is -increased upwardlymore graduallyv than in Fig. 3 by' means of a parabolic bearing surfaceC. This increases the curvature of ythe bearing rapidly as it ap-I ofthe rail head asshownin Figs. 3 and 4,

is not; essential to this invention, `but may. be used inl combination with the basic features of this inventionto provide some of the most desirable and practical forms. AThis substantially horizontal position of the upper por`r tionof thebearing,.therefore, is not claimedv specifically in this applicationybut is madev the subject matter. and claimed broadly in a separatelapplication, SerialNo. 454,575, filed MayV 22nd, i930. c f Y Y i I It will be noted'in Fig. 4, that bearing D is located on the inner portion of the rail foot v directly under the upper bearing, and that its angle of'inclination is intermediate between the'extremely steep inclinations shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the inclination of usual practice shown approximately -in Fig. 3.

With these lower bearings'havi'ngthe lesser inclinations, and particularly when the bear@ ing forms'the inner portion of the surface of the rail foot, theV tendency ofthe bar is to swing in at the vbottom around the upper bearing as a fulcrum, rather'than for the en` tire bar to rotatearound its own centre,-i1i

` wardly at the bottom and outwardly at the top.V In these designs as shown in Figs. 3

and 4, where there is a combination of the full crumor swinging' motion and therotating,`

motiomthe result is an upward and inward thrust with a slight slipping in .theV upper wear and service conditions; In such cases,` the substantially:horizontal positionof the bearing asthe` barswings inwardlyrmore aty thebottom than it moves out at the top under upper portion ofthe bearing is particularly Veffective inmaintaining aV tight pinching lit atlthis point. Vithout this provisionrfor a'- close tit, there is a tendency with some forms of upperbearings toward a pullingaway of.

- this upper portion kof the b-ar from4 the under surface of the rail head as the bar swings inwardly at thel bottom.

Figure 5 shows an eXtreme design in whichr the upper, portion of thev web is increased gradually upwardby a shallow curved surfaecC,lwhich is extended downwardly also web thicknesswith-the 'same uniform curvature to its juncture with the concave iillet G at the rail foot. The upper portion ofthe curve forms a very steeply inclined .bearing C, which is cut back at the top 12 by an inwardly inclined side face of the rail head. This extremeinclination of the upper bearing is in contrast with the voverhanging or laterally projecting upper bearingsA shown in'Figs.,A 3 and 4,' and is a widegdeparture from the former artV where the' average inclination is' about 14 degrees with thehorizontal. A bar with this steep vupper `bearing and with the usual :fishing angley and rail foot below, would rotate inwardly atthe bottom and would slip out fromr under the load atthe top but' withasteep lower bearing located on the -outer portion yof the foot, the l*result is almost a balanced condition'of the-bar against the rail, with a slight-tendency inward'at theltop. This would be the actionf of thebar without the 'lower member 13 shown ais extending` under -therail'foot This -basevmember 13 may be used4 in various combinations Lwith Vthe features of my inventiom'as a still further means to control the action of the bar against theA -rail. With designs'having this eXtreme inclination of the upper bearing, the 'wedging action under'load causesa slight yieldingof the rail-joint structure due to a slip and recoil movement between the'coacting bearing surfaces, which, in turn results in wearing the bearings toa solid fit over their'full width and complete'v lengthv during the life'V of the bar and thejrail. .Extra bolting capacity to hold thebar up to its work, together with a flexible n or yieldingdesign of bar applied tothe modern Vhigh rail sections, gives a rail-j oint of great elasticityv which canbe designed to give the same Vdeiiection under load as the unbroken rail, this deflection including aslight llippin'g of the bearings and stretching of the olts.

any limit that there might be to cause re moval on account "of lack ofV tit orshortage of metal-allowancerfor wear during the life of the rail. A friction rail-'jointof great flex# ibility which allowsfor a resilient'frictional movementin its normal Vaction under load and which has no wear limitswithinf the life of the rail, seems to be an.V entirely new idea in the development'of thek art y'and well-with# inthe attainment of my invention. kA lier;-4

ible V.rail-j oint of f this typemaintains tight bolts better than a rigid joint, and solvessome l ofthe defects in our modern track practice where the rail-joint acts as a stiff unyielding4 anvil which causes the rail ends to bepunished andA battered eXcessively long before vvthe rest of the rail is worn out.

' Figure 6 shows aheadbearingfsomewhat similar to that showny in Fig. 2.' Them-- clination of lower 'bearing Dis also Vabout the same; butit willV be noted that in Fig. 2,

Excessive wear kdoes not becomea factor, vsince the lsteep inclination" eliminates this lower bearing is at the inner portion of the foot. `'This is another good illustration of the effect- `of the location of the lower bearing, other Conditions being similar. The symbol b-f in F ig. 2 shows almost a balanced condition with aslight outward tendency at the top;whereas, in Fig. 6, symbol f-b shows a strong inward tendency at the top. Bearing D is reduced in width almost to a line at the point of tangency of the under face of the bar with the convex upper surface of the rail foot. This upper surface starts in a substantially horizontal position at its juncture with fillet-face G and gradually increases its curvature to its outer edge, where a clearance lil'is afforded between it and the under face of the bar. As thebar swings `in at the bottom around its top as a fulcrum, the lower bearing D increases its width by wear toward the outer edge of the rail foot. This outward movement of the bearing as wear takes place, is effective in Vstill further increasing the inward tendency at the top Vof the bar.

Figures V5 `and 6 show another novel advantageof the two-inclination top surface of therail foot. The lower half of the rail may be made toapproach theform of an I-beam, and at the same time, the.. required amount of inclination for the lower bearing may be obtained so as to ive the proper balancing action to the bar. nstead of requiring faces E and Gr to be builtup tothe inclination of D, this amount of metal may be used with greater eli'iciency at a greater distance from the horizontal neutral axis of the rail. This feature isof particular advantage in the modern high-section rails which also require a wide base.

Figure 7 shows a flat upper bearing C of large area, and` it has an inclination even greater than the curved bearing shown in Fig. 5. The foot of the rail and bearing D `is similarto F ig. 5, except that in Fig-.V7 the f transition fromi the inclination of D to that of the free' face E is curved at 151. Conca-ve fillet-face G isof large radius, which effects a reduction in the width of face E,

with the result that the upper surface of the rail' foot is substantially convex with two Hattened portions at D and E. In this F ig. 7, symbol fL-b shows a slight tendency for thc top of the bar to moveinwardly.

Figure 8 shows a rail with a very thin web,

which is increased gradually without abrupt change in section to the under corner of a very 'wide head, the side face ofthe rail head being outback slightly at 16. A deeply curved bearing at the top gives a good anchorage for the bar under the rail head, and the same curvature is used for the lower bearing D. rIthisgivesan exact balance in the actionof the bar under the pulll of the bolts along-their centre line f"-f; The bariis sym- 'f metrica-l with reference to this centre line so that the bottom bearing could beplaced atthe top. Lower bearing D is concave, and in occupying the inner portion of the rail foot, it combines with face G in forming an enlarged fillet bearing at the juncture of the rail web and foot. The inclination of E is that of the usual practice. If the bar is considered as having a section as shown by dotted lines with a clearance at 17 and a bearing on top of the foot at- 18, then it is obvious that, with the usual low inclination of the foot, the bar would becomesolidly seated against fillet D very quickly, even with the wide and laterally overhangingrail head at the top. Under such conditions, symbol ZJ-f shows the bar to have a strong tendency outward at the top.

The various novel and practical advantages of my invention may be understood from the above description. The upper portionof the rail web is enlarged and spread out so that the web merges gradually with the width of the rail head at its underV corners without any abrupt change in section. Thisprovid'es a better shape/to manufacture, and the resulting gradually sloping faces afford a wide diversity of means for improving the form of the splice bar and for increasing the .area of its upper bearing against the rail. The under face of the rail head becomes a combination side-face and. under-face bearing, which, in conjunction with the novel method for providing a lower bearing on the rail foot, affords aneffective means for adjusting the entire action of the bar against the rail. The two-inclination characteristic upper surface of the rail foot which may be merged into a continuously curved convex surface, also effects economies in metal distribution by giving to the lower halfof the rail the approximate shape `of `an I-beam, which is particularlydesirable with the large modern rails.

I claim:

l. In a rail-joint, a T-rail havin gradually and continuously converging aces extending from the under corner of its head toits,webthe width of one of said' faces being greater than the distance between horizontal planes at the top of the rail and through said under corners, and a splicebar contacting with a portion of said face, said rai-l having the top surface of one side of its foot comprising an inner face at its juncture with the rail web and two other faces of substantial width differing from each other in inclination, only one of said faces forming a seat for the splice bar.

2. In a rail-joint, a T-rail having the width of its head diminishing gradually and continuously between the upper and the lower edges of faces extending downwardly and inwardly from the under corners of said rail head, the width of one of said faces between its edges being greater than the height of the upright-,side .facelofthe rail head, and a splicelbar contacting with a portion ofsaid face and ywith only one of three faces cornprising the'width vof the top surface of one side of the rail foot, eachy of these faces having a different inclination from the other.

3.Y In a rail-joint, a T-rail having the width of its head diminishing` gradually tothe width Vor thickness of itsweb throughout the entire height o fa zone included between faces extending from the under corners of s'aidh'ead downwardly and inwardly a diag- Y onal distance greater than `the distance between "horizontal planes at thertopr ofthe railand through said under corners, and a splice vbar contacting withl a portion of one fof said faces, saidrail having the top sur- Y face of one side of its footchanged inits in- Vclination adjacent to fthe mid-point of .its

width, said splice bar Ycontacting ,with the rail foot only on 'onevof said inclinations.

4, In a rail-joint, a T-rail having the width- Vof its Aheadlredu'ced to the width.A or thickness of itsweb without abrupt changes in the width' 'ofits contiguous vhorizontal sections l withinthefull height yof the zone included wardlyfv and inwardly va l,diagonal distance greater than the height of the uprightside facelofnthe rail head, and a 'splice bar. con'- tact1ng=with afportionofsaid face and with the Atop surface ofone sidefof the rail foot onlyon one'sideofla point in thewidth of said surface where its inclinationfchanges.

56.. In a. railejointfa VT-rail having-a face Y extending from the undercorner of its head gradually downwardly. ,and inwardly tothe railfweb,y the vertical downward 'extent' of said facebeing greater than one-halfthe di` agonal: distancebetweensthe upper and the loweredges of said face,.and a splice bar contactingwith a portion of.. said face, said.

Y rail-having the ftopsurface of one side of its footcoinprising an inner face at its juncture' with therailweb and two other inclined faces,

of substantial Y width V differing' yfrom each otherV in inclination, only one of 'said faces contactingV with the splicebar. c 7.. In a rail# 'oint, a T-rail having a face exftendinggradually downwardly and inwardly without abruptlchange in directionv fronir theunderdcorner ,of` its head to the upright face ofI the.web,the width of said face; being greater than one-half the'width of the rail headfand a splicebar contacting with a an innerfillet Vface Aand iat least two other faces differing from said fillet face and from each other in inclination, only one ofsaid faces forming a seat for the splice bar.;`

8. In a rail-joint, a T-rail having a face extending gradually and continuously in a downwardlyand inwardly direction from the under corner of its headl and comprising a widthof face greater thanthe height of the uprightv side face of said head,` and a splice bar 'contacting with afportion of said face and having a bearing on the top` surface of the rail footk at anjinclinationgreater than another portion of said surface from which said bar stands free: `I f 9. 'In a rail-joint,'a Terail having an under face of its head coinprisingawidth'of face greater than one-half the widthof the rail head, and al splice ybar ,contacting withv a portion of saidface and havingfa bearing on the top surface ofthe rail foot atanl inclination greater than4 another portion of said surface fromwhich said bar standsfree.

10. In Vva rail-joint, aA T-rail having an under face of itsyhead comprising a width of yface greater `than the distancek between horizontal .planes at,theupper edge of! said face .and at vthey top ofthe rail,andfaV splice. bar contacting with a portion ofsaid Vface .and havingvabearing on the topi. surface lof the'rail foot at'an .inclination greater than another portion of.. said surface fronifwhich said-bar stands free. f g f 1l. In' a rail-joint, aTfrail having an underv face of its head disposed so that the-distance between horizontal yplanes at the upper and lower edges of said face is greater than one-half the .diagonal distance *between said edges, and a splice bar standingfree-froni a portion of therail'web and contactingfwith a portion of said` face andhaving afbearing on thez top surface `of the rail foot at an 'inclina'-v tiongreater thanvanother portion of said sur-Q face from whichfsaid'bar stands-free.

'12'.y In arail-3- oint,a rT-railv having an under face of its head `disposed so thatthe ldistance between horizontal' planes -at the upper and lower edges ofsaid face is-greater' than onehalf they diagonal distance between said edges', and a splice bar standing free from aportion of the rail weband contacting with a-portion ofY said face, said railhaving-the top surface ofl one side of its footfcolnprising an inner web-fllet face andtwo other facesof substan tial width differing from it and frornfeachv other-,in inclination, onlyjone of said'faces forming a seat for the splicebar.V f i f 13. In a rail-joint, 'aT-rail having'an un'-y der face of its head comprising a widthV of face greaterthan'the distance between horizontal planesat theupp'er edge of said face and yat'the top of the rail,and a splice bar contactingk witha portion VYof' said face and with only one of three faces comprising the width of the top surface of one side of the rail foot, each of these faces having a different inclination from the other.

14. In a rail-joint, a T-rail having an under face of its head comprising a1 width of face greater than one-half the width of said head7 and a splice bar contacting with a portion of said face, said rail having the top surface of one side of its foot comprising a wehillet face and two other faces differing from said fillet head and from each other in inclination, only one of said faces contacting with the splice bar.

15. In a rail-joint, a T-rail having an under face of its head comprising a width of face greater than one-half the width of said head, and a. splice bar contacting with a portion of said face, the top surface of one side of the rail foot having its inclination changed adjacent to the mid-point of its width, said splice bar contacting with the rail foot only on one of said inclinations.

16. A T-rail having on the upper surface of its foot a protuberant portion lying between the outer upper corner and the innerweb-fillet of said foot, and a splice bar contacting outside of said fillet with a portion of said upper surface which lies at an angle to the horizontal.

17. A T-rail having a portion of the upper surface of its foot projecting above a plane which is tangent to the upper outer corner and the inner fillet-face of said foot, and a splice har contacting outside of said fillet with a portion of said upper surface which lies at an angle to the horizontal.

18. A T-rail having a foot with a substantially convex upper surface disposed between its upper outer corner and its inner webiillet, and a splice bar contacting outside of said fillet with a portion of said upper surface which lies at an angle to the horizontal.

In testimony whereof, I have signed at Flushing, in the city of New York and the State of New York, this 5th day of May, 1930.

SAMUEL G. THOMSON. 

